I want to archive my 35mm negatives, and I bought a Minolta Scan Speed film scanner with Photoshop LE. My problem is, I'm not sure what settings to use to save the images to disc. My first thought is to save at the original size of 24x36mm at 2400dpi. That gives me the most resolution and the smallest file size. Then to print, I increase size and decrease dpi in Photoshop. Does this make sense? I want to do this the right way from the start so I don't have to redo it. Thanks.

-- Phil Anthony (phila@webzone.net), October 17, 1999

Answers

Higher resolution should give you larger file sizes, not smaller.

You have to ask yourself what you want to do with the digital files. If you want to print them at a known size, there may be no advantage in scanning at a higher resolution. For example, if you want to make 4x6 inch prints at 300 dpi, you only need 1200x1800 pixels. If you want files for the web, then 600x900 should be ample.

However, to give yourself maximum flexibility in the future, you would do well to scan the film at the maximum resolution. You can readily down-sample the images later as needed.

-- Alan Gibson (Alan.Gibson@technologist.com), October 18, 1999.